Sunday, January 14, 2007
iPhone
The iPhone coverage has been unremitting. It is a tribute to the cleverness of Apple and the showmanship of Steve Jobs. From reports the phone's interface is groundbreaking — leaving competitors flat-footed. Still, it is a little phone that plays music and lets you read web pages, little web pages. A tool, not content, not something that intrinsically expresses anything, other than the genius of capitalism in coming up with great new toys. There is a comical totemic quality to the coverage, with commentators reverentially discussing this little object.
The tendencies of pop culture are reminiscent of the specific functions of the Egyptian gods; an Egyptian god for every purpose under heaven — translated in our time into celebrities and consumer goods, providing a similar limited reassurance.
Some of the coverage did have some perspective…
Tom Krazit @ CNET was pretty funny in his coverage of Steve Jobs' presentation.
Jon Mayer plays a song. All the 12-year-old girls in the audience are screaming. Oh, wait, that's right, there aren't any, this is a technoology trade show.
Mayer praises Steve for making products that make people happy. An actual quote, “It's like the opposite of terrorism.” Yes, Jon, you're totally right.
He's playing again. Waiting on the world to change? Dylan, he aint. I'm waiting on the song to change.